A special prosecutor should investigate allegations that a Pennsylvania district attorney forged a judge's order to reduce the bail of a man awaiting trial on drug charges, county commissioners said.

The Centre County commissioners authorized the action against District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller on Tuesday, the Centre Daily Times first reported.

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But nobody connected to the case will explain why Miller allegedly would have wanted to forge the order, including three attorneys contacted by The Associated Press who have represented defendant Robert Albro Jr.

At the time of the order - which was dated July 18, 2013, but not filed with the court for nearly two months - Albro was jailed awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges. The bogus order reduced Albro's bail from $100,000 cash to a $10,000 bond, which means he could have paid a bail bondsman about $1,000 to get out of jail.

One of Albro's former defense attorneys, Matthew McClenahen, told the AP that Albro was also being held on other cases, and wouldn't have been released even had he posted the much-reduced bail. McClenahen otherwise declined to comment, citing attorney-client privilege and the ongoing investigation.

Albro ultimately pleaded guilty and received nine to 30 years in prison in January 2014, according to court records.

In a statement, Miller called the allegations against her "patently false" and "absurd" and said they "will be quickly and completely dismissed."

Miller also said the person accusing her is being investigated by the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, which isn't commenting.

The allegations stem from an affidavit by Michelle Shutt, a paralegal in Miller's office from June 2012 until January 2014. Shutt said Miller asked her to study orders signed by Common Pleas Judge Pamela Ruest so Shutt could type up a "fake order." Shutt said she then watched Miller forge the judge's signature on it.

Shutt's lead attorney, Andrew Shubin, didn't return calls but issued a statement calling Shutt "a courageous young woman who came forward to tell the truth at great personal risk" who will "cooperate fully" with the special prosecutor. Ruest's staff said she is not commenting.

According to Shutt's affidavit, "The forged order was to be used to set up Ryan Richard by using defendant Richard Albro." It doesn't explain how that would be done, however.

Richard, 56, was convicted in 1989 of third-degree murder for killing his wife and, after his release in prison in 2012, was prosecuted by Miller's office on charges he threatened people and intimidated witnesses in letters he sent from prison, according to his defense attorney, Steven Trialonas. Richard was convicted of two counts of terroristic threats and one count of witness intimidation in November.

Trialonas declined comment on Shutt's affidavit or the investigation. He had also represented Albro until another Centre County judge removed him, citing an unspecified "conflict of interest" in May 2013.

Albro's current attorney, Julian Allatt, said he's "deeply disturbed by the allegations that have come to light."

"We will continue to pay attention to these allegations insofar as it can ultimately benefit my client and demonstrate that the way he was treated was unacceptable and had no place in our criminal justice system," Allatt said.